31. Dom
Chapter thirty-one
I didn’t actually think we’d actually see anything noteworthy in the basement, but I’m wrong. There’s a small, worn mattress, some old, well-worn men’s clothes, and a piss bucket. I stare at everything, realizing I now have more questions than answers. Is Jeff living in the basement? Why wouldn’t he be staying in one of the bedrooms with Helen? Or even the couch would be better than this.
Was someone kept down here? I think about the victims from this town, but none of them went missing for more than a few hours or a night before their bodies were found, so they couldn’t have been held here for any length of time.
When we arrived today, Helen didn’t have time to move anyone out of here; she took us straight down here, so I don’t think anybody is actively being held down here right now either.
But when Atlas points to a backpack on the ground near the bed, it feels like the blood freezes in my veins.
“Is it—hers?” I ask nervously. Atlas takes a deep breath, then moves over to it quickly, bends down, and opens it up. He pulls out a coloring book.
“Fuck,” I say, knowing it’s Mina’s bag. “But she wasn’t down here when we arrived. So maybe she likes to hang out down here to get away from her mother? Or maybe she just keeps her stuff down here?” I suggest. When Atlas just stares at the bag, I sigh, tilting my head to the side to crack my neck before stepping forward to give his shoulder a squeeze. “Let’s just take photos and get out of here before Helen comes down.”
Atlas reaches into his pocket, pulls out a giant Mr. Big chocolate bar, and drops it in her bag. I give him a smile and shake my head. We finish up taking photos, then I text Gideon.
Me: G, restore the power
No reply comes, but ten seconds later, the hanging lightbulb above us flicks on, showing the basement is even dirtier looking when it’s lit. We quickly move upstairs and from what I see of the main floor, there is nothing noteworthy at all, and no sign of Mina anywhere.
There is definitely something strange going on in that house. And my fear of Mina getting hurt has only increased after being in her home.
An hour later, five of us are sitting in our living room while Atlas and Ben join us on speaker phone from their stakeout spot in the car outside Mina’s house.
“Alright. Tuck, Max, I know you guys lost Jeff, but give us the details,” I ask my brothers, knowing they are just as frustrated at losing him as we all are, if not more.
Tuck scrubs his hand over his face while Max scowls at the floor. I know they’re angry they lost Jeff, but I also know they did what they could.
“We saw Jeff leave the house and quickly jump in his car and take off. We trailed him at a distance. He pulled into the mall parking lot, which was really busy, and with all the cars pulling in and out, we got separated and lost him,” Tucker says, looking frustrated .
“Jasper?”
“It was just fast food in the car. The receipts in the bags show them from local places, but I took photos and will add them to the board. The VIN number was scratched out, and as we know, the plates were fake, so we have no hope of locating the car’s history.”
“What about you? What did you guys find in the house? Did you see her?” Gideon asks me, his eyes bouncing between me and Atlas.
“Helen led us directly to the basement. It’s dingy and completely untouched. Cement floors and walls. There’s a mattress on the floor with some men’s clothing near it and a piss bucket in the corner that looks like it’s been used recently and…” I trail off, knowing they won’t like the next part.
“And?” Ben prods from the phone.
“And Mina’s backpack was down there, by the bed.”
“Do you think she’s living down there?” Max asks in horror.
“Helen didn’t have a chance to move her out of there. We thought maybe Mina chooses to hang out down there, away from her mother. There were no other signs of it being her room. No personal effects of any sort, just her bag.”
I see Max release a breath, but not all of them look satisfied by that answer.
“So what does that mean? They kept other people down there or something? I don’t understand, that doesn’t fit the MO,” Jasper says in confusion.
“None of the known victims were missing long enough to be held somewhere,” Ben adds .
“I don’t think what we found tells us anything more than what we already knew. We’re still just speculating at this point,” I say with a sigh as I lean back in my seat.
“We should ask her,” Max says, still staring at the floor.
“What?” Tucker asks.
Max looks up, making eye contact with each of us before he continues. “We should just ask her who that guy is and why her bag was in the basement.”
“Max,” I start, “we can’t let her know who we are. What if she’s involved in some way?”
He literally growls at me. My eyes widen, I’ve never heard that sound come from him before. “Dom, she’s NOT involved.”
“I don’t think she is either, but she’s probably connected in some way, and we don’t want to spook her,” I tell him.
“What if she needs our help?” Ben asks through the phone. “What if she’s not involved but is seeing it going on around her, and they’ve threatened her not to tell? She might have nobody to talk to and be terrified.”
Everyone goes quiet as we stare at the phone in thought.
I sigh, scrubbing a hand down my face as I admit, “I don’t know what to do.”